Big surprises come in weird packages
by wolfe'sgirl15
Summary: What happens when Horatio's daughter joins the team? Some funny stuff and lots of romance, that's what. WARINING: later chapters contain strong adult themes and coarse language.
1. Dirty Little Secret

As the tall brunette walked down the hallway, everyone turned to stare. No one was sure why, but there was something about her presence that demanded attention. She turned left and entered a room where an older, ginger-haired man was bent over the desk. "Still trying to find my transference papers, Lieutenant?" she asked. The man smiled.

"Nice to see you too, Jess," he replied. "And you don't have to be so uptight and formal."

"Okay, Dad." A woman of Columbian descent picked that moment to walk in.

"Horatio, everyone's waiting for… oh. Hey Jess."

"Hey Aunt Yelina. I forgot you worked here as well. How's Ray Jr.?"

"He's doing fine. What brings you to Miami?"

"A job opportunity and a change in the scenery. Well, I guess we should be going then. Introductions should be fun." Horatio smiled. His daughter was always full of wit and sarcasm. He led her to the break room.

_ 'New town, new faces, same old routine'_ Jess thought to herself. The introductions had been made, and she was now observing her new coworkers while waiting to be assigned to a case. Their reactions were normal to her by now. Moving all over the place to get jobs with the fathers in her life had made the gasping and staring predictable.

"Jess, You've got a 419 with Mr. Wolfe," said Horatio, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"First day on the job and you give me a dead body. You must be playing favorites," she remarked. The room filled with laughter at the remark. "Which one of you is Mr. Wolfe, again?" she asked.

"That would be me," replied a man who looked to be in his late twenties. His brunette hair was long, with a few locks getting dangerously close to his eyes.

_ 'Damn,'_ she thought. _'He's hot.'_ She walked over to him. "So, do you have a first name, Mr. Wolfe?"

"Ryan," he told her.

"Well, then. Shall we go to the crime scene, Ryan? I'm sure the ME's waiting patiently." They walked out the door, climbed into the Hummer, and drove off to the scene.

"So, where are you coming in from?" Ryan asked.

"Quantico."

"No way. You're a Feeb?"

"I prefer my branch to not be called that, but yes, I worked with the FBI."

"Why move to Miami?" he asked

"The big reason? My stupid stalker ex-boyfriend. I can't seem to go anywhere without him showing up. I've had so many aliases, none of my former coworkers know who I actually am."

"Yeah? And who would that be?"

"Jessica Marie Caine, born September 13, 1980."

"What else have you gone by?"

"Well, I generally keep my first name the same, but in Vegas, I went by Jacqueline Grissom, but everyone called me Jack. The other reason I decided to move here is my best friend was murdered."

"Who would your friend be?"

"Tim Speedle." They sat in silence other than the soft music playing from the radio for five minutes. "Oh good god," she said. "Do you mind if I change this? I can't stand Paris Hilton."

"Go right on ahead." She started flipping through channels before settling on a mix station.

_"And now we bring you the newest hit single from the All-American Rejects, 'Dirty Little Secret.'"_  
"Oh my god, I love this song." She turned it up as the first verse started. It got to the chorus and Jess started rocking out. She stopped short when she heard Ryan singing along. "I thought I was the only one dorky enough to know the lyrics to this song." she said

"I guess that's something we have in common." Ryan said. "So explain something to me."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"How can you biologically be Horatio's daughter? I mean, the hair color…" His voice trailed off.

"Oh. Yeah. Well, red hair is either a heterozygous or a homozygous recessive allele, so as long as one parent has brown hair, which my so-called mother does, it's possible." They arrived at the scene.

"Hey Alexx, what have we got?" asked Ryan. The forty-something-year-old African-American woman looked up from the male Caucasian lying in the grass.

"Looks like a gunshot wound to the chest, and it's in there pretty deep." She looked up and noticed the newcomer. "Hi. You must be Miss Caine."

"You can just call me Jess. I thought Dad was the only one who knew about me."

"There are some people you can't keep secrets from, honey," replied Alexx.

"Sorry to cut short the introductions, but do we have an ID on the body, Alexx?" asked Ryan as he started searching the area for evidence.

"I was waiting for you guys before looking in his wallet." She opened up a brown leather wallet and pulled out an ID. "Says here his name is George Waters, 39, living at 1209 East Sunset Boulevard."

"Well, there seems to be no evidence he was shot here," said Ryan.

"That's strange, he's got double lividity," replied Alexx.

"Which means this is a dump site. Alexx, where did he work?" asked Jess.

"He worked at," she pulled out the ID again. "He worked at the Miami branch of some shipping company." "That," said Jess, "is where we are going to be."

"Well, I can't tell you much about Mr. Waters, but I can take you to his desk." Jess and Ryan had arrived at the building and were being walked through it by the secretary, a twenty-five-year-old by the name of Maria, looking to be of Brazilian descent. "He mainly kept to himself unless you were in a higher position than, well, me." She walked them to a cubicle. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Jess started looking around. "Ryan, why don't you go through his filing cabinet. I'm going to try to get into his computer." She tapped a few keys. "No luck. He's password protected. You find anything?"

"Nope." A man looking to be in his mid-fifties walked up to them.

"Maria told me we had some visitors. May I ask what you're doing in my building?"

"Name's Jessica Caine, this is my coworker, Ryan Wolfe. We're with Miami-Dade PD. And you are?"

"Name's Mitchell. I am the CEO of this branch. What is this about?"

"Your employee, George Waters, was shot this morning. We're trying to figure out who and why."

"Ok. Go ahead and take whatever you need from his cubicle. If you want anyone else's stuff, you're going to need a warrant."

"Thank you sir. Ryan, help me get this computer to the lab. I've been dying to meet your computer tech."

"Well, there isn't much on here, just some stuff for his job." They were back at the lab talking to Jensen, the computer tech.

"So, if we want to find out more about the man, we go directly to the source," Jess muttered to herself.

"Where would that be?" asked Ryan.

"His apartment building."

They arrived at the address on the ID and knocked on the door. A man in his mid thirties wearing a t-shirt and khakis answered the door.

"Can I help you?"

"Yeah. We're with Miami-Dade PD. Did you know a George Waters?"

"Yeah, he's my roommate. He isn't in any kind of trouble, is he?"

"No sir, he's dead. May we come in?"

"No, you cannot. You don't have a warrant." He slammed the door in their faces

"What a charmer," muttered Jess. Ryan laughed. "You want to call the judge?"

"It'll be my pleasure." An hour later, they were serving the warrant to the roommate.

"We're going to have to ask you to wait outside, Mister…?" asked Jess.

"Oh. Johnson. Brian Johnson." He stepped outside.

"If I was a crime scene, what would my first piece of evidence be?" asked Jess.

"In this case? A blood pool," was Ryan's reply. They started searching the house for any signs of blood, but to no prevail.

"So, if I was a murderer, I would clean up the mess if it was in my house…Ryan, why don't you hit the lights and close the blinds."

"Using the Alternate Light Source, are we?"

"It's my favorite tool." They each grabbed one from their kits and started scanning the floors of apartment until Jess yelled out from the kitchen, "Found it!" As Ryan walked into the kitchen, he noticed Jess' face almost touching the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"We're not going to get any DNA from this," she replied.

"Why not?"

"It smells slightly of bleach, which means he used a household cleaner and diluted it with water. But it is enough to hold him."

"Great. Now all we need is why and the gun."

"Well, normally for motive, I check the computer records." They went over to the computer and logged in. "This guy is _so_not serious about security." They checked the computer's records but…

"Nothing. Not a damn thing," said Ryan in frustration.

"Looks like we need to visit Jensen again."

"Now, here's the thing about deleting files," said Jensen. "If you just send it to the recycling bin, it'll still leave different parts of whatever you recycled."

"Right, it's like a paper shredder. It rips apart whatever was put through it, but there is the chance of somebody being able to put it back together again," was Jess' reply. "What did you, my cybernetic puzzle-solving little friend, find on our boy's hard drive?"

"Well, I can tell you one thing. I'd rather be dealing with a snuff film than this."

"Well, there are a few things more disturbing than a snuff, but that doesn't help. What did you find?" Jensen inhaled deeply.

"Porn."

"And there is only one kind that would make a male Audio/Video tech cringe, and is worth killing over."

"Oh yeah? What is that?" asked Ryan.

"Child pornography. And that, gentlemen, that is our motive."

"We still need the gun, though. Without it, it's still considered circumstantial." Marilyn Manson's **(S)aint**suddenly filled the room. Jess grabbed her cell phone and answered. After a few moments, she hung up.

"Calleigh's got our bullet."

"Well, I took a look at it. It appears to be a .38 caliber, probably from a pistol. But without the gun, I can't tell you more."

"Looks like it's back to the house."

"Okay, where would you hide a gun?"

"Are you asking me, or are you just talking to yourself again?" asked Ryan.

"I was actually asking your opinion."

"Oh. Um, I personally would put it in a drawer for safekeeping. As for hiding it from the cops, I'm at a lost." Jess sighed and looked up, then got a look on her face. She took off her shirt and opened up her kit.

"Okay. What the hell is going on?"

"Tell me what you see above you."

"A vent looking to be about four feet by four feet, leading to the next door neighbor."

"Exactly." She stood up, holding a Philips-head screwdriver in her hand. "Could you give me a boost?" He went over, grabbed her by the waist, and hoisted her up.

"What gave you this crazy idea?"

"I remember working a case in Vegas. We found larvae in a vent. It wasn't the body, but it lead us to the killer, who had stuffed the corpse in the water heater." The vent cover came down. She hoisted herself up into the vent and started crawling around. After a minute or two, she jumped down. In her hand was the pistol.

"Nice. Now, why couldn't you use a chair to get up there?"

"Because they're all part of the crime scene."

"Uh-huh. One more question. Why take off the shirt?"

"Last time I got stuck investigating a tight space, I ended up ripping a perfectly good shirt beyond repair. Let's get this to Ballistics."

"Two shots!!" cried Jess. She was in the ballistics lab, test firing the gun. After firing, she took off the headphones and put the safety goggles on top of her head. She then grabbed the magnetic wand and fished the two bullets out of the tank of water.

"Trying to take my job, are we." joked Calleigh, her southern accent becoming prominent.

"Oh. Sorry," said Jess as she put the two bullets in two separate envelopes. "You were out in the field, so I figured I'd do this. Did you want to make the comparison?"

"Well why not." She took one of the envelopes and ran it over to a microscope, Jess close at her heels. "Where's the original caliber?"

"Right here." She handed over the original envelope. Calleigh slit it open, dumped the bullet out and put it next to the test round. She then peered into the microscope.

"Well, what do you know. Perfect match."

"Thanks. Now I have to see a tracer about a download."

"Just finished tracing the download. Of course, being as you need an email for this site, it was a hell of a lot easier to find him. The account belonged to Brian Johnson."

"The roommate. Thanks." She grabbed her phone and punched in a few numbers. After the second ring, Ryan picked up. "Let me guess, our suspect just became the defendant?"

"You know it."

Half an hour later, Jess was in the observation room watching Ryan interrogate Brian Johnson. So far, though, he seemed to be unsuccessful.

"So all of that stuff just happened to appear in your house? It seems highly unlikely that those would be the circumstances."

"I don't know what to tell you."

"Someone else is going to come in to deal with you." He stormed out the door and leaned against the wall next to Jess. "You want a crack at him?"

"I was just waiting for the invitation." She walked into the interrogation, sat down, put her feet up on the table, and stared intently at Brian. He started to squirm around in his seat. After five minutes, he started pacing nervously.

A moment or two later he screamed, "Alright! I did it! I killed George!"

"One question: why?"

"He was going to go to the cops about the porn! I couldn't let him do that!"

"Well, because you couldn't let him go to the cops, you earned yourself an even longer sentence. Congratulations, you bonehead." She left the room to rejoin Ryan.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Being around Dad, Gibbs, and Ziva will do that to you."

"Who are Gibbs and Ziva?"

"Right, sorry. Gibbs is my stepfather and former supervisor in D.C. and Ziva was a coworker there." By this time, they had reached the locker room. "If you think that was impressive, you should see Dad interrogate. He once had a 37-minute-long staredown with a suspect. From what I heard it was amazing." She grabbed her purse and shut her locker door.

"One thing before you go. You do realize you have goggles on top of your head, right?"

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, I know." She smiled and walked out the door.


	2. Everything I Do

6 months later

6 months later

As Jess stepped out of Horatio's car, she inhaled deeply. It had been a rough day, ending with her Uncle Ray, who was supposed to be dead, showing up and taking her Aunt Yelina and cousin Ray, Jr. to Brazil.

"You okay, Tig?" asked Horatio.

"Hmm?" She looked up. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…just a lot of events to process, is all. Shall we go in?"

"After you." The two of them walked across the parking lot towards the bar, a small brick building by the name of Marty's. The place was so small, it seemed that its max capacity should have been 50 instead of 300. It was a popular place for those wishing to drown their sorrows in bad '80s music and cheap booze. It was also one of Jess' favorite hangouts due to its mock-'50s diner interior. They walked in and grabbed a table. 5 minutes later, Calleigh and Eric joined them. As Eric sat down, Jess noticed the hardened look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Wolfe," he muttered.

"Oh for God's sake! What the hell did he do this time?" she asked, thoroughly annoyed. Eric and Ryan had been butting heads since day one and it was really starting to piss her off.

"He sold his soul to the media, that's what."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Actually, if you watched the whole report, you would know that he gave you the credit." They sat in silence for 15 minutes when Ryan walked in. He sat down and ordered. Nobody said anything for a while.

"Okay. This awkward silence is bugging me. I'm going to put on some music on," said Jess. She walked over to the jukebox and started fiddling around with it. A couple minutes later, she came back and grabbed Ryan.

"Where are we going?" asked Ryan

"To the dance floor. I'm bored, so we're going to dance."

"That probably isn't such a good idea," he said.

"If your girlfriend gets pissed over this, she's even bitchier than I thought."

"First of all, I dumped her. Second of all, I suck at dancing." The jukebox finally kicked in and started playing 'I love Rock 'n' Roll' by Joan Jett.

"It's really simple. All you have to do is follow my lead." As she started dancing, Ryan found it extremely easy to follow her. As the song came to a close, Jess did one more twirl and landed in Ryan's arms. "See, it's not that hard," she said.

"Honestly, I didn't do that much."

"You want more of a challenge? Hold on a minute." She ran back to the jukebox and chose another song. "Now, this is a slower song, so what you need to do is place your hands on my hips."

"Oh yeah? Where are _your_ hands going?" he asked.

"On your shoulders, you pervert," she said while rolling her eyes. As soon as they had positioned themselves, 'Everything I do' by Bryan Adams came on. "You know, when I first met you, I knew I could trust you," said Jess, trying to lead.

"Yeah? I wish I got that feeling from everyone else. Erica totally took something I said out of context and used it to her advantage."

"How did she get the information in the first place?" asked Jess.

"She used her woman skills."

Jess started laughing. "Women skills? I've never heard it refered to that way. If it's bothering you that much, just have me with you while you work."

"How will that help?"

"Well, if you've got someone with you, especially a female colleague, she'll be less likely to use her 'women skills' to get information off you."

Back at the table, Calleigh and Eric were talking about the scene in front of them.

"They make a cute couple," said Calleigh.

"Isn't he still dating…_her_?" asked Eric, saying the last word with disgust.

"Do you honestly that'll stop Jess? She's as stubborn as Horatio. Like father like daughter, I guess."

Jess and Ryan came back to the table a minute later. "Where'd Daddy go?" she asked.

"I didn't even know he left," admitted Eric. Jess pulled out her phone and dialed. On the third ring she got an answer.

"Hey daddy, where are you?"

"I had to leave. I had somewhere I needed to go, and I don't think I'll make it home tonight," said Horatio on the other line.

"Ok." She hung up and started digging through her pockets. "Can one of you…CRAP!"

"What's wrong?" asked Ryan, Eric, and Calleigh at the same time.

"I was going to ask for a ride home, but apparently I forgot my keys at home, so I suppose a better question would be does anyone have a place I can stay at tonight?"

"I'm sure I've got some room," said Ryan.

"Great. So I guess I'll see you two tomorrow." She and Ryan headed to the parking lot where Ryan's car, a little silver Volvo, sat. Jess started cracking up.

"What's so funny?" asked Ryan.

"THIS is your car? What are you, a soccer mom?"

"I crashed my other car a year ago, and this was all I could afford at the time."

"If you say so. It's still hilarious." They got in and drove off.

A couple miles down the road, Ryan asked, "So why don't you have a car of your own?"

"Well, what with moving around a lot, I figured a car would be too much of a hassle. Besides, carpooling is easier on the environment."

"If you decided to get a vehicle of your own, what would you get?"

"A Harley. I've always loved motorcycles." Soon after, they arrived at Ryan's apartment, a one-bedroom white box. "So, where am I sleeping?" asked Jess.

"Is the couch okay?"

"Yeah, of course. You wouldn't happen to have any pajamas I could borrow, would you?"

"I might have something." Ryan went into his room and rummaged through his drawers. He came back with a oversized shirt and some flannel pajama pants. Jess took the clothes from him and started changing. As she pulled off her shirt, Ryan noticed her many tattoos on her back: A helix on her left shoulder, an open triangle with feet and a circle above it, and a celtic cross intertwined with roses going from the base of her neck to the top of her hips, and stretching across her ribcage. He also noticed the crescent-shaped scar starting at the middle of her left shoulder and ending on her left hip bone. "What happened there?" he asked, tracing the scar lightly with his index finger.

"That? I honestly don't remember what happened there." She pulled on the shirt and turned on the television. As soon as she sat down, the theme song to Star Trek: The Next Generation started playing.

"You actually watch this show?" asked Ryan, totally confused. Of all the things he could have pegged her as a trekkie was way down at the bottom of the list.

"Of course. I happen to find Captain Picard and the Borg very sexy."

"Ooookay. Here's your blanket. There are some more in the closet and if you get hungry, go ahead and help yourself to the fridge. I'm going to bed."

"Night," she said, turning back to the TV. She loved this show and the episode on right now was one of her favorites. It was the one where Picard became a Borg. She didn't know why, but the thought of one of the most powerful, awesomest character on TV could just as easily become part of the flock, become a follower always made him seem more human. After a couple episodes, she started dozing off.

"Commander Caine, I need you to go negotiate with the Borg," said the captain. Jess looked around at her surroundings and realized she was in an episode of Star Trek. She looked down and noticed she was wearing a yellow shirt.

"Uh-uh. No way in hell am I leaving this ship," she replied.

"Why not?" asked the captain, confused.

"Because I'm wearing a yellow shirt, which is the equivalent of a red shirt in the original series." Jess turned to face the captain and realized that it was not Picard, but Ryan instead. Before she could voice her confusion, Marilyn Manson's Beautiful People interrupted her.

As the song continued, Jess started to understand what was going on. She grabbed her phone and answered. "Piglet, do you have any idea what time it is?"

On the other line, a distinct female voice answered, "10:00?"

"Maybe in Vegas, but I'm in Miami, and it's one in the fucking morning here. I'm hanging up." Jess closed her phone and was fast asleep in five minutes

Ryan woke up with a start. Something had disturbed his sleep, but he had no idea what. He rolled over and looked at his alarm clock. It read 3:00. He rolled back over and tried to fall back asleep when he heard Jess moan softly in her sleep. He got up and went to close the door when he heard a thud in the living room. Running out there, he saw Jess thrashing about in her blankets on the floor. "Jess! Jess, wake up!" He bent down, pulled the blankets off her face, and held her so as to stop the thrashing before she seriously hurt herself.

Jess woke up to find herself on the floor and in Ryan's arms, pressed against his chest. "What happened?" she asked completely bewildered.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I came out here, and you were flailing on the floor." Jess thought for a minute. What was she dreaming about that could possibly cause her to do that. The conclusion came quickly.

"I haven't had that nightmare in quite some time," she muttered. She looked up to see Ryan sitting on the couch. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Do you think I'd let you sleep unsupervised after that little scene?" asked Ryan. She looked at him funnily. "I just don't want you to get hurt," he said

"Aw, that's sweet," she said, smiling at him. She grabbed the blanket and got back up on the couch. She laid her head on his chest and almost instantly fell asleep.


	3. Sex and Candy

Ryan woke up with a start as Marilyn Manson's _Rock is Dead_ started

playing. He groped around the coffee table until he found the source. Looking at it

closely, he realized it was Jess' phone.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Jess?" came the voice on the other end.

"Horatio?"

"Mr. Wolfe?"

"Crap. Hi. Let me get Jess for you." He turned around and started shaking

her awake.

"Wassamatter?" she asked groggily.

"Your dad's on the phone."

"Oh, okay." She grabbed the phone away from Ryan. "Hi, da-da-daddy,"

she said while failing to stifle a yawn. "What's up?"

"Any particular reason Mr. Wolfe answered your phone?"

"Um, you left the bar and weren't home, and I had no car or key, so I

stayed at his place."

"Well, at any rate, we have a 419 on Hibiscus Island that we need you two

at."

"Don't worry daddy, we're on it." After receiving directions, she turned to

Ryan. "I need to borrow some clothes."

"I don't think I have anything that'll fit you. Anyway, why can't you wear

what you wore yesterday?"

"Ryan, honey, I'm a girl. We don't wear shirts more than once in a row.

And besides, I just need a tank top and an over shirt."

"Well, we could take a look in the closet, I guess." She ran into his room

and started searching. A few minutes later, she pulled on a white wife-beater and a black

button-up.

"How does this look?" she asked.

"Looks good," said Ryan. "You ready to go?"

"Yup." They walked out to the garage and got into the Volvo. Jess sighed.

"What is your ordeal with my car?" asked Ryan, correctly guessing the

reason for the sigh.

"I'm a grease monkey. I'm into motorcycles, and muscle cars. And a

Volvo does not fit those categories."

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it, because I'm not switching

cars. This baby has been reliable since the first day I got her."

"We'll see if she's as _reliable_ by the end of the day," she muttered to

herself.

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Having traded in the Volvo for a department-issued Hummer, They

arrived at the crime scene twenty minutes later. The rest of the team was already there.

"Gees, Jess, what took you so long?" asked Eric

"Late start, Eric. You see, I, unlike you happen to have a night life," she

said as she ducked under the crime scene tape.

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Meaning she was up watching a Star Trek marathon last night,"

said Ryan.

"Hey, Alexx, what have we got?" asked Jess as she stuck her tongue out at

Ryan.

"Brian Summers, age 29. My guesss would be the poor boy died of asphyxiation due to strangulation."

"Any idea what the murder weapon is?"

"Not yet, but…. Hey Jess, honey? Is it just me or are his pants unzipped?"

Jess walked over to the body.

"As a matter of fact, Alexx, they are." She looked around. "Alexx, can you

roll him for me?" As the body was turned, both women noticed something strange about

the victim's back.

"Are those _scratch _marks?" asked Alexx.

"They are."

"So, what do you think?" asked Eric. "Guy took a leak and then was

ambushed?"

"With the way those scratch marks look, I don't think so. I'm thinking

more along the lines of…" She bent down. "More along the lines of sex."

"How can you tell?"

"If those were caused by an attack, they would be deeper because our vic

would have been struggling. However, the scratches are shallow, and I found this next to

the body." She held up a fake fingernail, painted purple. "There was definitely a female

presence in this park last night." Ryan walked over to where Jess was standing.

"Let me see that," he said. All of a sudden, gunfire rang out a few blocks

away. Ryan pushed Jess to the ground, landing on top of her.

"Gees, Ryan. You could have at least bought me dinner first."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She jumped up and started running towards the gunfire, hopping

the fence in the process.

After watching Jess, Horatio started giving orders. "Calleigh, Eric, You

two stay with this vic. Ryan, take an officer and go find Jess. Alexx, you and I have a

new crime scene."

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The officer Ryan grabbed happened to be named Aaron Jessop. He hadn't

been an officer very long, but he knew dedication when he saw it. And believe him, the

brunette gal was dedicated. He had never seen anyone move that fast for a suspect. His

thoughts were drawn away by the radio.

"I lost him," came the voice of the brunette. Ryan grabbed the radio.

"Where are you, Jess?"

"I'm on 25th and Lander."

"Didn't you start on 2nd and Massachusetts?"

"Yeah, then I stopped on 2nd and Lander to see if the 2nd 419 was still alive."

"How did you manage 25 blocks in 7 minutes?"

"I used to run track. When are you gonna get here?"

"We'll be there in 2 minutes." He put the radio back on the hook and

turned to Jessop. "We need to get to 25th and Lander."

"Her running track would explain how she moved so quickly,"

commented Jessop to himself.

"What'd you say?" asked Ryan.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was talking to myself." They pulled over to the side

and got out to find Jess doubled over and breathing hard.

"How did you lose him? You were, like, the bionic friggin woman out

there!" exclaimed Ryan.

"I wouldn't have lost him if he hadn't driven off, the bastard. He drove a

black Toyota Camry, between the years 2000 and 2002, with Miami plates Thomas

Quentin Laura 5. That was all I could get for you. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. You did what you…" he was cut off by Rock is dead

coming from Jess' pocket.

"Hold on. Yeah? Hey daddy. What? What do you mean? What do you

mean by 'potentially problematic? How the fuck… never mind. I'm coming over there.

I'll be there in 5. okay. Bye." She hung up. "Ryan, can you take care of the evidence of

the car? I have an issue I need to deal with."

"Sure, no problem."

"Great. Awesome. Officer? Can you give me a ride?"

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"How the hell did she get it?" asked Jess. She was at the second crime

scene, talking to Horatio. "I never hand out my number to people I don't know, and I've

never seen her before in my life."

"That's why I called you down. I'm just as curious about this as you are,

especially after the whole ordeal during college."

"I don't know." She looked around. "Hey Alexx? Do we have an ID on

her yet?"

"Yeah. And she was a big name. Alicia Dalton."

"You mean the model?"

"Yeah. And I believe she was also the owner of that purple fingernail you

found at the park." She held up a hand to reveal four purple fingernails, and one missing.

"So how would a model have my number? Unless….hey daddy, do you

mind if I head back to CSI? I think I know why this happened, but I'd rather not put the

third party under the microscope just yet."

"Yeah, sure. You can ride back with Alexx."

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As Jess crawled out of the van, she saw a short young woman with

chestnut colored hair going down to her shoulders waiting at the door.

"Hey Danielle," she called.

"Hey Jess! Long time no see."

"I know. I've been busy with work and moving and all."

"You still looking for a good place?"

"Yeah, and I think I found the winner. You wanna head inside?"

"Sure. Just waiting for you to show up." They walked into the building

together. After signing Danielle in, Jess lead her to Horatio's office and shut the door.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Coffee please."

"So what are you doing in Miami, Danielle?" she asked as she poured

coffee into a mug.

"It's fashion week. I'm actually supposed to be fitting my models right

now," she said as she accepted the mug

"You wouldn't happen to have a model named Alicia Dalton working for

you this time around, would you?"

"Yes, actually. She was supposed to show up this morning for tailoring,

but she never came. Why?"

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but she was shot this morning."

"Oh my god! You're kidding! Wait. Am I a suspect?"

"What? Oh, nonononononono. That's not why I called you down here. I

called you down here because we found her and, upon searching her possessions, we

found my number in her phone. I was just curious as to why that was."

"Oh. That. Well, you see, she was having problems with an ex, and so I

gave her your number last night and told her, if she had any problems, to call you. I was

actually going to tell you today about it." She took a sip of her coffee.

"What about a Brian Summers? Did you know him?"

"Yes. He was Alicia's boyfriend." She took another sip of her coffee and

then asked, "You didn't happen to find Sophie, did you?"

"Sophie? Who's Sophie?"

"Sophie is her 5-year-old daughter. She was the reason Alicia was being

stalked."

"She has a kid?"

"Yes. A very cute little…"

"Hold that thought." She pulled out her phone. "Hey, daddy? Yeah. Yeah,

I found out why she had my number, but we got a bigger problem. Our vic, Alicia,

apparently has a daughter. Yeah. A little five-year old. Just to give you a heads up. Yeah.

As soon as I get the address. Okay. Bye." She flipped her phone closed and turned to

Danielle, "You wanna go for a ride?"

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Twenty minutes later, Jess and Danielle arrived at Alicia's house. Jess

turned to Danielle. "You know what to do?"

"Yes. Go in, try to find Sophie, and if there are any strange people, stay

out of the way."

"Good. Now stay behind me." Jess pulled out her 9 mil and slowly opened

the door. "Sophie? Sophie, honey, it's okay. My name is Jessica Caine. I work with the

police. You can come out now."

"Sophie? It's your mommy's friend, Danielle. Jess happens to be a good

friend of mine. You can trust her." Slowly, a blond head appeared from behind the closet

door.

"Are you sure it's safe?"

"Yes, honey, it's safe."

"Is the bad man gone?"

"What bad man?"

"The man who shot mommy. He came in looking for something, and then

walked out the door."

"Yes, honey. The bad man is gone," said Jess. She reholstered her gun and

grabbed Sophie. "Honey, I need you to show me where the man touched the house,

without touching it yourself." Sophie started walking toward the front door.

"He touched there," she said, pointing at the door knob.

"Okay. Danielle, take her to the Hummer. I'll be out in a few." She pulled

out her phone again. "Hey daddy. Yeah, we found her. I may have evidence of our killer

here, so I'm gonna be a little late getting back." She hung up and pulled from her kit

fingerprint dust and a little brush. "You, sir, should do the trick."

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"Hey Jess," called Ryan. It was 45 minutes later and Jess had just arrived

back at the lab with a few juicy prints from the door knob.

"Hey, Ryan. What's up?"

"I figured I'd tell you in person, you made catching our suspect a hell of a

lot easier."

"How so?"

"When you shot at the car, you shot the damn gas tank."

"And since you can't get very far without a gas tank…"

"We already called all the auto shops and let them know what we're

looking for. I heard you got to play hero today."

"I would have done the same for anyone. And I mean anyone." She turned

and walked toward the fingerprint lab to find Eric sitting there. "Hey, man. What are you

doing here?"

"Well, I thought I had a fingerprint on Mr. Summers' cell phone, but the

partial is so smudged, AFIS can't read it."

"Do you mind if I use it? I got some prints on the doorknob of Alicia's

house, and I have reason to believe it came from our killer."

"Sure, go right on ahead." She placed the prints in the scanner and ran

them through AFIS.

"Huh. We got a hit."

"Who is it?"

"His name is Patrick… Dalton. Arrested for assault and battery"

"Isn't that the same last name as the female vic?"

"It is. Her… friend did say she was being stalked by an ex."

"We may have found our killer."

"Well, before we arrest him, we have to prove he's guilty, which we don't

even know he is."

"You up for an interrogation?"

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"Look, if Alicia called and said I violated that damn restraining order,

she's lyin." Jess and Eric were in the interrogation room questioning Patrick, who looked

like the stereotypical biker thug.

"That's not why you were called down. You were called down because

Alicia and her current boyfriend were killed and we found your fingerprints at her house

where her daughter was, hiding in fear because the man who shot her mother was in the

house."

"Alicia's dead? Hey, I didn' do that. I only went into the house to find

my baby girl."

"Okay. I'll be right back." She turned to Eric. "Mind talking with me

outside?"

"Sure." The moment the door closed, he turned to look at her. "What's

going on?"

"Did anyone get the autopsy reports from Alexx yet?"

"Ummmm, I'm not sure?"

"Okay. Keep him in there."

"Where are you going?"

"The morgue."

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"Well, Brian definitely died from strangulation. You can see the ligature

marks on his neck. Alicia, however, was shot. Close range, twice. I managed to get both

bullets out, but one of them is so mangled, I can't see you getting ballistics off of it," said

Alexx. Her and Jess were in the morgue, talking about the victims.

"Hmmmmmm. Well, we'll just have to do the best we can with the one

then, won't we?" said Jess. "Do you mind if I get a copy of the picture of the ligature

marks? I might be able to identify the pattern. And that bullet?"

"Sure thing." She handed Jess the picture.

"Thanks." Jess walked out the door. As she started heading to the break

room, she almost ran into Calleigh and Ryan.

"Hey, Jess?" There's a young woman in Horatio's office, asking if it's

okay for her to leave. What should I tell her?" asked Calleigh.

"Oops. Go ahead and tell her it's okay to leave, and that I said that I'm

sorry I left her hanging."

"Who is she?"

"You ever hear of Cortege?"

"Yeah. It's one of the largest fashion empires of the U.S."

"And the only one using all green materials. Anyway, she's a friend of

mine and happens to be the designer for that brand."

"You're kidding me! You mean you're friends with Danielle?"

"Yup. Shit. I need to look at something really quickly. Calleigh, do you

mind taking a look at this bullet for me when you're done?"

"Sure."

"Thank you!" Jess turned and walked into the break room and started

studying the pictures. A few moments later, Frank walked into the room.

"Hey Jess. What're you doing?" he asked.

"I'm looking at the pattern on our male victim's neck. Do you happen to

see the zigzags here?"

"Yeah. Yeah, actually, I do. What do you think it means?"

"I don't know. It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen used as a

weapon before, and yet…." She paused, then jumped out of her seat and ran out of the

room. A few seconds later, she started tearing through her locker.

"What are you doing?" asked Ryan.

"I had a spare pair of sneakers in here. Where did they go?"

Ryan walked up behind her and pulled a pair of Converse off the top shelf.

"You mean these?"

"Yes. Thank you." She grabbed the shoes away from Ryan and started

unlacing them. "If my hunch is correct, I may have found one of our murder weapons."

"How did you come across this hunch, if I may ask?"

"I took a second look at Alexx's autopsy photos, mainly the one of Brian's

neck. And then I remembered that he was also wearing a pair of Converse. So I'm testing

a theory." She grabbed the shoelace and ran out of the room and back down to the

morgue. "Hey, Alexx?"

"Hey, honey. What can I do for you?"

"Where's Brian Summers?"

"I put him away."

"Can you pull him out? I need to see something."

"Sure. What is it that you need to see?"

"Well, I took a look at those ligature marks and couldn't help feeling I had

seen the pattern somewhere. Then I looked at the width and it hit me. I had seen the

pattern before because I use it everyday."

"You do?"

"Yes." She took her shoelace and placed it around the victim's neck, with

an almost perfect match. "Yes, I do use it everyday. The weapon is a shoelace, from a

pair of tennis shoes. Can I get Brian's personal effects, please?"

"Sure. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Yes. His shoelaces. And if you could touch the ends as little as possible,

that would be great." Alexx handed her the shoelaces by the middle. "Thanks you!" Jess

shouted as she ran out the door.

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"What're you doing?" asked Ryan as he walked into the DNA lab. Jess

had been sitting there for about half an hour, staring at the computer screen.

"I'm waiting for DNA results."

"From what?"

"Well, I managed to get some epithelials off of the shoelaces, so now I'm

just waiting to see who they belong to."

"Huh. Well, I came in here to ask you, since you're currently looking to

move out of your dad's house, if you would like to move into mine. I'm currently looking

for a bigger place, so the 1-bedroom would only be temporary…"

"Ryan, honey, you're babbling. Yes, I would love to move in with you."

"Really? Cool. So when are we going to start moving stuff in?"

"How about tonight?"

"Sure."

"Oh, um, I should probably ask this now, but do you mind pets?"

"Pets shouldn't be a problem, unless they get really messy."

"They won't." Suddenly, the computer pinged. "Looks like we have a hit.

And… why am I not surprised. Now I just need to…" The office phone started ringing,

cutting of Jess. She swiveled around and picked it up. "Hello? Yes. Yes, this is the

Miami-Dade Crime Lab. Yes. Really? Are you sure? Okay. Can you email me a couple

pics of the car? One of the front, one of the back, one of each side, and pics of the

damage done. Okay." She gave the person on the phone her email, then hung up. A few

moments later, she opened her email and took a look at the pictures. "Yes. That is

definitely the car I shot at. The license plate has the 4 digits I gave you, and the registered

owner is our suspect. Now I just need to confirm that bullet with Calleigh, and this case is

closed."

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"So I ran that bullet through IBIS, and I got a hit. Your suspect, Patrick

Dalton, was arrested a few years back for shooting a deer out of season, and this bullet

matched striations with the bullet from that scene."

"So if we can find that gun, we can irrefutably link him to all three

scenes."

"You got him at two of them?"

"His DNA was on the murder weapon for Brian, and it was his car that I

shot. So now all we need is that gun, or his confession, and this case is closed." She

paused for a second then looked at Calleigh. "Has the car been searched yet?"

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Because if I'm pegging this guy correctly, he may have left us a little

present in there."

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"So, Mr. Dalton, last time I saw you, my case was coming to a standstill,

but then, by a stroke of luck, we managed to peg you at all three scenes: Your epithelials

on the shoestring that killed Brian, a bullet from your gun in Alicia, and your car fleeing

my scene with my bullet in your gas tank. Want to explain yourself?"

"No."

"Okay, then. I'm gonna tell you what I think happened. I know you were

threatening Alicia. When that didn't work, you resorted to breaking and entering. Then

you caught her with her current boyfriend, and that pissed you right the fuck off. So you

decided to kill the competition, literally. But then you had the problem of Alicia

witnessing the act, and so you had to kill her too. But then you realized Sophie was

probably in the house, and so you dragged Alicia off two blocks away from her house,

and shot her. All for your daughter. All for Sophie."

"You know, I helped bring that little girl into this world. I helped create

her. And how does Alicia repay me? By putting a goddamn restraining order on me. So I

did what I had to do in order to see my baby girl."

"You really shouldn't have wasted your time. Sophie doesn't even know

who the hell you are."

"That's a lie!" shouted Patrick, now jumping up and crossing the room to

stand in front of Jess. He pulled out a knife and held it to her throat. "Stop lyin' to me,

you fucking bitch!"

"Sir, if I were you, I would take that knife away from me right _fucking _

now!"

"Yeah? What're you gonna do if I don't. You're just a punk-ass bitch

hiding behind a badge."

"Okay. You asked for it." She lifted her right leg and gave a kick. When

she looked down, she saw Patrick lying across the table, clutching his abdomen. She

walked over to him and said, "Don't you _ever _fucking try to threaten me again." She

turned around to see two security guards and Ryan running in. "Y'all are a little too late."

"Are you okay? What the hell happened?" asked Ryan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Somebody missed the knife in his boot, and he tried to

threaten me with it. Y'all see how that turned out."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Do you see a scratch on me?"

"I'm not talking physically."

"Do you _not _remember the conversation we had six months ago about me

being stalked? I think I can handle a jackass with a knife."

"Jesus," said Ryan, looking at Patrick. "Remind me to never piss you off."

"Will do." Suddenly her phone started ringing. After answering, she

asked, "Do you mind seeing him through booking? I have an errand I need to run."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks."

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"Hey, Horatio! Wait up!" Ryan exclaimed while running down the hall,

trying to catch up to his boss.

"Mister Wolfe. What can I do for you?"

"I don't know if Jess had any time to tell you…"

"Don't worry. She already told me about the move."

"Okay. She told me she wanted to move her stuff tonight, so I was

wondering if that was okay?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Great." The two men walked out the door and into the parking lot. Ryan

started looking around. "Dude, where's my car?"

"What do you mean?"

"I had my car parked right here, and now it's go…" he paused mid-

sentence as he saw a yellow 1972 Chevy Camaro pull through the parking lot. "Oh, no.

No way in hell." The Camaro pulled over in front of him and Horatio and Jess hopped

out.

"Hey guys," she said.

"What the hell happened to _my_ car?" asked Ryan.

"Funny story. I parked in a no parking zone, and by the time I realized it,

they had already towed it, and I had no idea where it was towed to. So I bought a new

one."

"Uh-huh. Sure." He stared at the car, then said, "No use crying over spilt

milk, I guess. Give me the keys."

"Here you go."

"H, we'll meet you over there."

"Sounds like a plan," said Horatio as all three of them got into their cars.

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End file.
